Crimson
by mitsu pudding
Summary: 18!fem27 AU 3YL! Hibari has marked Namimori as his hunting grounds, but Tsuna refused to let him continue terrorizing her classmates. Hibari terrified her, but she was unable to forget the way his eyes turned crimson, and the way he kissed her before disappearing for three years.
1. Red

First story on this account and I'm anxious to post it, so I'm unable to put a cover image for story for another three hours. Oh well. Not much so say except it's my first time writing in a while, and this is the first time I've ever written something vampirical. Also not willing to go cliche crazy, so hopefully my story won't come off as such.

AU, which is my excuse for fem!Tsuna. About 3YL! so they're all around 17, Hibari and Ryohei 19, etcetc.

* * *

Wars never began quietly. There was always a buildup of suffocating tension, until suddenly and devastatingly, the resulting explosion catalyzed the beginnings of battles.

Perhaps her declaration of defiance had been too quiet. Tsuna had, after all, been "bitten to death" along with the people she tried to save when she first started her rebellion... Filled with a sense of necessary civil disobedience and vigilante justice that overran her sense of self preservation.

Her first experience with standing up against Hibari had been pathetic, leading to her being effortlessly shoved out of the way. She had only been knocked out after she continuously and idiotically attempted to reason with the unreasonable brute.

_"__H-Hibari-san, please stop! They weren't doing anything wrong!" __she pleaded as she shielded one of her classmates with her body. __Barring way to prey would infuriate any predator. _

_ Hibari snarled. "Those who crowd will be bitten to death. Now move, herbivore." Tsuna felt chills crawling down her spine when she saw a flash of crimson in his eyes. _

_ "It's n-not against the s-s-school codes," Tsuna insisted, flinching as Hibari stalked towards her. _

_ "Are you intentionally trying to dig your own grave, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" He sneered. A big name for a little girl. _

_ "P-P-Please don't," she whimpered as the Disciplinary Committee chairman grabbed the front of her uniform. "Please d-don't hurt them." _

_ "Sawada Tsunayoshi..." The way he said her name made her shiver. The __killing intent radiating off of him was almost tangible. Deadly charisma laced his next words: "I'm going to do much more than that." _

She didn't remember anything after his threat. There was a brief lapse in consciousness where she thought she saw Hibari crouching over a fallen victim, his eyes stained with a shock of red, but she had uneasily dismissed it as a fear-induced hallucination. Something about Hibari was eerie... And it wasn't just his ferocious bloodlust, or his habit of beating up whoever walked into his line of sight. Just thinking about him made her tremble. He _scared_ her. But on the other hand, there weren't many things that _didn't _scare her, back when there had been no such things as early morning runs or bomb-rigged homework problems. Back when there was no Reborn.

At the advent of her cryptic tutor, everything changed.

* * *

For the first time in three years, Tsuna ran into Hibari. Literally.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she bent down to collect the papers that she had knocked over. She hadn't been this clumsy in years, but she was really late for lunch and worried that she might be inconveniencing her friends. She looked up to hand the papers back with an apologetic smile, only to stifle a gasp when she realized who she ran into. _Hibari? _The Skylark (Tsuna shivered, such an innocuous name for somebody so bloodthirsty) had disappeared near the end of her last year at Namimori Middle with no explanation, eliciting a large sigh of relief from the entire student body. Tsuna had been one of the relieved, although at the same time angry with herself, because despite whatever she did to try to stop Hibari from harming mostly innocent students, she had never, ever, succeeded, always being swatted away like a fly at the last second. She had never forgotten Hibari's mocking smirk, the one that silently relayed the message, _who are _you _to stop _me_? _She swallowed, trying to summon up the courage to initiate a conversation.

"I...uh..." Her mouth opened and closed, but she was unable to form anything coherent. Not liking the limelight herself, she rarely openly stared at others; but she found it impossible to look away from Hibari. Three years was a considerable amount of time. Instead of the neat hairstyle with the fringe that sometimes hid his eyes—eyes that somehow, using the trick of light, turned a crimson red at times—the Skylark now wore his locks in a shorter, messier, fashion, his hair cut in such a way that almost seemed as capricious as he. Tsuna noted the sharp jawline and how time had only honed his model looks. She swallowed again, this time out of suppressed desire. How could such a satanic tormentor be so devilishly handsome?

But then she recalled how he had ruthlessly continued to bash his tonfa—his weapon of choice—in his victim's ribs after he was already downed. The animalistic glint in his predacious, apathetic, and _normally _steely grey glare. The terrified shrieks of her classmates, begging for reprieve, for mercy, for an end, to just _pleasepleaseplease stop. _

So she settled her expression appropriately into a scowl. "I'm sorry," she muttered as she passed the papers to him. She hastily walked past him, knowing that his eyes were burning a hole at the back of her uniform, and knowing that once again, she would have to try to provide help to those he hunted. But this time, she would be doing more than administering first aid. She would prevent the problem at its roots. She clenched her fists. She had enough power to do so now...right? A phrase formed in her mind, and despite her mind vehemently protesting against doing so, she pivoted around on her heel and held Hibari's gaze, who was surprisingly, still observing her. If she knew better, she would have thought that the slight quirk of his eyebrow expressed his disbelief.

"Welcome back, Hibari-san." _Oh gods, _she thought as she realized what she had said. What she had committed—a grave, grave error. She was more manic than he was. Well, no way to salvage the situation. She whipped back around and darted down the hallway, hoping that Hibari wouldn't give chase. _This is why Reborn thinks I'm an idiot, _she cursed inwardly as she took the steps by two, bolting up the staircase and almost shoving the door to the roof open in her haste.

"Hey Tsuna!" Yamamoto was the first to notice. He grinned cheerfully as he fended off Gokudera, the glowering, silver-haired pyromaniac.

"Tenth!" Gokudera greeted happily before his expression turned stormy again. "Oi, give me that back you baseball idiot," he snapped as he reached for the stick of dynamite Yamamoto was holding above his head. "That's not a fu—_freaking _toy," Gokudera said after hastily correcting his language—he preferred not to curse around women, and right now there were two too many. Including that _stupid woman _who was currently yapping her head off about some sort of cake or another with Kyoko.

"Tsu-chan! Why are you late?" Kyoko asked as she patted the spot beside her.

"Come sit down after you try this cake! It's delicious!" Haru urged, passing a chunk of cake speared that was speared with a fork to her.

Tsuna accepted the sweet as she thought about how fortunate that Haru's father allowed her to transfer from Midori School for Elites after she graduated secondary school. She sighed around her mouthful of cake as she sat down. Good as always. Haru's taste in pastries was perfect.

"It's good!" she exclaimed, trying to shove her memories of Hibari to the back of her mind as she faked a smile. "I...I like it," she managed to say before feeling a teardrop roll down her cheek. _...Shit. _

In a split second, her friends surrounded her.

"What's wrong, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked softly. Gokudera, Kyoko, and Haru let him be their spokesperson, despite wearing heavy concern on their faces.

"I, uh," she started as she frantically started to wipe at her quickly moistening cheeks, swallowing thickly when she knew she couldn't, _wouldn't _lie to her friends, who deserved to know why she was so afflicted with emotion. She stifled a broken sob. "Hibari's back."

* * *

_She was weak. __She knew that. She had never dreamed that she would ever openly challenge someone as strong as Hibari; she swore that it was Reborn's fault and he had done _something _that injected her with courage tainted with foolishness. _

_ Her voice didn't falter when she issued her declaration of war. "You're not hurting anyone else. I will stop you." She held her chin up in an act of clear defiance after motioning for the caught students to scram. She hoped that he wouldn't follow them, and somewhere, a god listened. Hibari stayed put. _

_ Her hands trembled, and she clasped them tightly together, hoping that he didn't notice. _

_ He noticed. _

_ Deliberately taking small steps toward her, Hibari backed her up against a wall. _

_ "Am I supposed to believe that, herbivore?" he said lowly, his menacing silhouette completely blocking out the light. "You're afraid of me." A statement. Not a question, but something said like a fact. Tsuna had a fraction of time to mull over his statement. Afraid of him? Wasn't that clear? Her body was wracked with almost violent shivering. Realization dawned on her. But she wasn't __really _that _afraid of him. Just the things she associated him with._

_ "I'm more afraid of the things you do," she managed to say. __Almost confidently, she asked, "Why are you compelled to be so violent?" She finally looked met his eyes. _

_ Steel blue. Not red. _

_ Not red not red not red._

_ Steel blue holding her gaze. Steel blue that was mesmerizing. Steel blue that was...conflicted? _

_ "I'll bite you to death." _

_ But he didn't. _

_ He kissed her instead. _

_ Her first kiss wasn't innocent, wasn't a touch-and-go, wasn't a cherishable moment. It was searing, as if all the heat in the world was trapped between their lips, the places on their bodies where they were touching. Her first kiss was marred with her kissing the enemy. _

_ She wasn't supposed to want Hibari. She wasn't supposed to want him in the way that would make him hers. _

_Hibari let her go with a confused look on his face. _

_ "Forget this ever happened."_

* * *

This is where I ask for feedback. It's my first time writing something like this, a twist on my own writing style. It's weird. But I would like to know what people think about this AU. I'm having fun so far writing it.

Next chapter will probably feature a Hibari POV (this one is centered around Tsuna).


	2. Blue

I have delivered :D

**CrescentSnow **ah, well, it seems that this story will be rife with flashbacks. I've always found it hard to deliver information all at once, so I guess more and more will be revealed eventually...like peeling back the layers of an onion. :D **Kirimi Hellgrea **It certainly is an AU! Think I stated that somewhere, didn't want people getting confused haha. It is easy enough to deduce what Hibari is. Thank you, it's been confusing for me to try to write Hibari in character... **FlowerQT02** thank you. I feel that it is indeed an interesting idea, I just hope my execution on a widely done concept will be a bit different than others. **fatesmask **thank you :) **Taheara **on it. :) **Psycho Nocturnal** "Why did you say that Hibari" is my reaction to a lot of things in this chapter. :p

* * *

He knew.

He'd known since he was little. That he was different, that he was not like the other kids, that he would be alone for a long, long time.

The power didn't bother him. He reveled in his abnormal strength. His unnatural regeneration didn't faze him. All the more easy to recover after a fight where he was seriously outnumbered, which to be honest, happened quite often. The constant drive to fight, to expend the endless energy that thrummed through his veins? He was more than happy to heed the call of battle. He was even OK with the thirst for human blood every so often, despite being slightly annoyed that his feeding habits were so _inconvenient. _

The blackouts, though, he could do without. When he was younger and could barely gauge his thirst level, he would at times lose conscious control of his body whenever it ran low on blood. The worst part about the blackouts were that he would have no memory of it after. His body would go on a rampage to replenish his low blood supply, and the only way he knew what heinous acts he had been subconsciously committing was because of the sheer number of bodies strewn around him when he woke up.

He was not cold-blooded enough to leave without checking if they were alive or not first. Somehow, luck smiled upon him. He had not murdered a single person...yet.

He hated the absence of memory during his hunting sprees. His body was his own, and would not be controlled by anything else, instincts be damned.

And for his whole life, he never craved human company. But Sawada Tsunayoshi was a whole different headache.

* * *

_He stared impassively at her as she made a plead for him to let the crowding herbivores go. He was tempted to stare at her longer, to fully try to understand what went on in that strange brain of hers. She was a freak of nature. __An uninvolved person__ had actually tried to protest against him. _

_ But he was running out of time. There was a different reason for the hunt than the one he had given her—it was not entirely dishonest; although he __probably would__ not have went out of his way to beat up herbivores for "crowding." __He could feel the stirrings of bloodlust in his stomach. He needed to feed. Now. _

_ "Now move, herbivore." It was a command. A trick. A manipulation. A type of mind control that had worked on everybody he tried it on, up until now._

_ She didn't move. His vision filled with a brief flash of crimson as he exerted more effort in controlling her. _

_ "I__t's n-not against the s-s-school codes." __She was still trying to hold her ground? This foolish, crazy girl... He consulted his memory for her name._

_ "__Are you intentionally trying to dig your own grave, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" __he said through gritted teeth as he started towards her. A big name for someone so little to live up to. For some reason, he took no pride in seeing her flinch. __She was like a little rabbit. The lowest in the food chain.__ He grabbed the front of her uniform. _

_"P-P-Please don't," she whimpered. __He almost felt sick. Please don't what? He was aware his intentions might have __been __seen __as __vulgar, but at the time, he had just wanted to shove his force around. "__Please d-don't hurt them." _

_What? His eyes widened fractionally. She was _still _going on about sparing her classmates? _

_ "Sawada Tsunayoshi..." he said, his eyes piercing through her. She was different. In a good or a bad way, he had not figured out yet, but he had a feeling that he would be seeing more of her. Unfortunately. "I'm going to do much more than that," he promised, seeing the fright in her eyes before squeezing a nerve on her neck that caused her to crumple unconscious to the floor. _

_He turned back around to hear the last of the cowering herbivores attempting to escape. These fools that she had "saved," had not done a single thing to try to help their "savior." _

_ He caught up with his victim in an instant. A quick jab to __the__ skull with his tonfa was enough to fell the weak __human. A film of red __seized __his vision __for a second__ before he knelt down__ beside the herbivore, __baring his fan__gs._

_ Red._

* * *

She followed him around...everywhere. It seemed that she was there for every single hunt. She was easy to take care of, though time and time again she was always there to attempt to guard her brethren.

Knocking her down had always left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He didn't understand. There were a lot of things he didn't understand—emotions, human incapabilities... but Sawada Tsunayoshi was at the top of the list. He didn't understand why he was so reluctant to harm her, when she was so obviously below him.

But one day, she surprised him.

* * *

_She blocked his tonfa swiftly with her forearm, but not without wincing. His eyes widened in surprise. When had he missed this? Had he really not noticed the way her power level had been rising steadily, albeit slowly? _

_"You're not hurting anyone else. I will stop you." Her chin was jutted in defiance as she waved for his victims to run. Run away, before they are punished. _

_ He could have easily stopped them from escaping. His monstrous strength and speed which could overwhelm any petty human... _

_ Her hands were trembling. _

_ That stopped him alone. _

_ This fragile human that was capable of stopping him. She was the first to lead him to question his actions. Not far enough to merit a guilty conscience, but perhaps she had instilled in him a sense of mercy. _

_ But it was a give or take world. And he was always taking. _

_ He deliberately took small steps towards her, knowing that he was intimidating enough to completely cower her. Or at least, he used to be. _

_ "Am I supposed to believe that, herbivore?" he said lowly when he backed her up against the wall. "You're afraid of me." It was not a question—merely an easily observed statement. She was shivering, almost violently. He was gripped with a strong impulse to hold her in his arms. _

_ But why? What would that accomplish? _

_ "I'm more afraid of the things you do," she said, almost calmly. Why? Why was she not screaming in terror? _

_ Then with a trickle of confidence, she continued, "Why are you compelled to be so violent?" She finally looked in his eyes, and for some reason, her expression settled in a look of relief. _

_ He stared at her. He didn't understand. He felt that he would never understand. _

_ At first, she had been a constant thorn in his side. But over time, he had realized that he had grown to expect her company. To almost appreciate her keeping him in check. _

_ He wanted her. _

_ He wanted her not because of the lustrous, chestnut-colored hair that fell to her waist, or the lithe legs that she often inadvertently put on display, not even for her quivering rosebud mouth that was often pursed with anger or fear when she was around him, and certainly not for her disgustingly expressive eyes. Not even when with one look she prompted him to consider reevaluating his life choices. Key word: consider. He never went through with questioning his actions, not when his motives were in the end, preventing him from fully becoming a monster. _

_ Sawada Tsunayoshi was gorgeous, but that was not the reason why he wanted her. It was something in the way she talked to him, so unlike the frivolous herbivore Dino, who had claimed to be his new tutor the second they met, or any of the other Namimori students who did not speak to him at all, or that infuriating, condescending way in which Rokudo Mukuro spoke to him. _

_ She spoke to him like he was human. She didn't know better, but still, her words were a soothing balm on his stained skin. _

_ "Why are you compelled to be so violent?" echoed in his mind. He didn't think it was something he could change, no, not with his nature. _

_ His initial abhorrence at realizing that fact that he unconsciously desired her almost led to a rampage, but luckily, she had shown up for his next spree, again, acting like a limiter to what was once uncontrollable. _

_ He had corralled her with his limbs—his legs pressed against hers, his arms pinning hers down. _

_ She was still staring at him. Her large eyes didn't properly reflect the sheer amount of naivete and misplaced trust she possessed. _

_ "I'll bite you to death," he said, stifling the flicker of thirst when he saw the exposed column of her neck. _

_ But he didn't. _

_ What had prompted him to go for her lips instead of her neck, he had no idea. But once he initiated the kiss, he couldn't stop. Couldn't wrench himself away fast enough. He blamed it on primal instincts, but he would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't enjoy the contact. He felt hot, almost feverish from the way their bodies were pressed together. _

_ She fell limp in his arms. He thought his arms would never be capable of protecting someone, doomed to an endless cycle of destroying, but here he was, holding her upright as she kissed back with surprising fervor. _

_ He didn't think he could do it, but he pried himself away. Why was he able to be so gentle when around her? _

_ "Forget this ever happened," he commanded her, hoping that this time the glamour would work, despite it failing every time he tried it on her. _

_ She collapsed on the floor. _

_ He wanted to pick her up and steal her away, but he could only imagine the ways he would corrupt her. _

_ So he left._

* * *

He hadn't known that would be the day that he would actually _leave. _Leave Namimori, the sleepy town that had no idea it was housing so fearful a predator.

He was reluctant, but the offer was too tempting.

"I can't keep on cleaning up your messes," Dino said, finally serious. He traced his bullwhip as he thought about how to entice his student on leaving his hometown. He figured _that girl _wouldn't hinder Hibari at all. While Reborn had relayed to him that Tsuna had some type of obsession with the Skylark, Dino just figured that the reason why Hibari had put up with her for so long was because she was the first to treat him like a _human. _He lowered his eyes.

"I'll teach you how to better control your glamour," he murmured. "I'll teach you how to keep your blackouts to a minimum. I'll teach you everything you need to know about your kind...Hibari." He smirked. "I'll teach you until you become strong enough to take me on." The last bit was a jab at his student, and sure enough, Hibari approached him with a tonfa. He easily warded off the attack with his whip.

"All I ask for is three years."

* * *

He couldn't stop staring at her—he hadn't intended to bump into her (quite literally) so soon. The arch of her back as she bent down to retrieve his papers—the huge stacks that had been waiting for him at his return (after all, he did pride himself on being the Iron Fist of Namimori). Her long legs, longer than he had remembered, were slender and looked soft to the touch. She had kept her hair long, and for the first time in a long while, he found himself battling the urge to touch it, to prove to himself that it was as silky as it seemed. Her face was hidden to him until she rose up to return his papers.

She smiled at him.

He couldn't remember the last time someone smiled at him. If he could preserve this picture of her, maybe he would. As he expected, her smile dropped when she realized who he was.

"I...uh..." Her mouth opened and closed, but she didn't say anything else. All he could remember was how soft her lips felt.

He figured the shock kept her staring, which made it all the easier for him to observe how she had changed. Her face had retained its innocence, but now only held traces of her former childishness. Her caramel eyes were heavily flecked with spots of orange. He wondered about this later. Supernatural beings usually possessed oddly colored eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. The scowl he had come to known returned to her face. She handed the papers back to him before hurrying away.

He wanted to punch a wall, possibly a building, for staring at her retreating back, but he couldn't look away. He had steeled himself for this moment every day since he had returned to Namimori, but it had not gone as blissfully as he had planned—they apparently could not simply ignore each other.

So of course he was surprised when she turned back around. He raised his eyebrow slightly in disbelief as she chewed her bottom lip a bit before saying, "Welcome back, Hibari-san."

And she was gone.

He was left speechless.

* * *

It was not like him to spend any more time than necessary dwelling on a thought. But he couldn't stop thinking of what Tsuna said.

When he first reappeared back at Namimori High, a hush fell over the student body as they scrambled to get out of his way. Not exactly very welcoming. But Tsuna... He sighed a little as he continued signing off his papers. He should just get the principal to do this.

A slightly off-pitch rendition of the Namimori anthem came trickling through his window. Pausing his paperwork, he put down his pen to open the window to let his avian companion in. The bird chirped and settled on his shoulder.

He had met the yellow fluffball during his training. Initially unfriendly and cautious, he had tamed the bird until it had grown to like him.

...He had a soft spot for small animals.

During his extended stay in Italy, he taught the bird how to sing the Namimori anthem. He wouldn't go as far to say that he missed Namimori. It was just that he much preferred his school to a foreign country.

"Hibari! Hibari!"

Ah. The bird still had a penchant for chirping his name every so often. Maybe he should name it. Just calling it _Bird _was a bit... general.

"Tsu...Tsu..." the bird chirped. He stared impassively at the bird. For the past few days, the bird had been chirping the same syllables. For no reason at all, if he may add. He was about to return to his burdensome load of legal agreements and contract signing when someone burst through the door.

"Tsu-Tsunayoshi!"

* * *

I have finally remembered the word for the rhetoric device I use so often: anaphoras.

This chapter is a lot of Hibari POV.I am aware that Hibari's character is not _exactly _as it is canon, but my excuse is that this is an AU and canon Hibari is boring anyway (but oh so sexy). In my effort to spice things up a little, Hibari is not a robot death machine.

*shrug* I've mostly only elaborated a bit on the main characters right now, but worry not, others will make their appearance soon™

Thank you for reviewing, it cheered me up to know that people enjoy reading a constantly revisited idea (never fear, I will make it all better, I hope).


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